Virginia Slims Tennis : Amateur Grossman Talks, Plays Way Past Fairbank Into Final : After Three-Set Upset, She’ll Meet No. 2 Stephanie Rehe for Title Today

SAN DIEGO —  “Out,” screamed the linesman.

Ann Grossman, having lost her third match point against favored Rosalyn Fairbank, shot a look down the line at her opponent.

“Wasn’t it good?” she seemed to be asking.

Fairbank put her hands about two feet apart as if to say there was no use even wondering.

Grossman, 17 and maybe not old enough to know better, shot back.

“It wasn’t that far out,” she said.

And so Saturday’s first semifinal match in the Virginia Slims of San Diego tennis tournament went. Grossman, the scrapper, not giving an inch, against Fairbank, 27, who was trying not to get caught up in the youngster’s antics.

“She really wasn’t very professional at all,” Fairbank said.

But Grossman isn’t a professional. All she is is a finalist. Grossman, an amateur who had to qualify just to get into this event at the San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club, eventually won, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

In Saturday’s other semifinal, second-seeded Stephanie Rehe beat another amateur qualifier, Deborah Graham of Fountain Valley, 6-2, 6-2. That means Rehe will be the oldest player in today’s 1:30 p.m. final. She’s 18.

Fairbank said she thinks that one of these days, Grossman will have to start acting a little older. Throughout the 1-hour 55-minute match, Fairbank was not only flustered by Grossman’s style of play but also by her style between periods of play.

With the first set tied, 3-3, Fairbank, serving at love-15, looked across the net and saw Grossman dancing back and forth. Fairbank thought Grossman was attempting to distract her and said so politely to Bob Christianson, the chair umpire.

Grossman took notice of what was happening and decided to defend herself. Out loud.

“She’s been doing the same thing,” Grossman yelled. “What’s the problem?”

Christianson decided there was no problem, and the match continued. Grossman stopped dancing.

“I wasn’t doing anything intentionally, and she’s over there having a cow about it,” Grossman said. “That doesn’t impress me at all. She supposed to be a professional. I can’t believe it was bothering her.”

Fairbank said later that Grossman hadn’t bothered her and blamed the loss on her own lack of aggressiveness. It was clear, however, that Grossman played at a different level every time there was a verbal exchange.

“I’ve never played a player who complained about so many things,” Grossman said. “To be honest, I loved it. That was telling me that there was something wrong with her.”

After Grossman won the first set, there was nothing wrong with Fairbank. She jumped all over Grossman’s weak serve in the second and broke her four times, winning, 6-2.

“She has no serve at all,” Fairbank said. “And she doesn’t move very well, either.”

The compliments weren’t exactly flowing.

But some of Grossman’s shots in the final set left the crowd at center court gasping. A half-volley cross court in the fourth game broke Fairbank’s serve and gave Grossman a 3-1 lead, and a backhand pass off a Fairbank serve helped make it 5-1 two games later.

Notes

The top-seeded duo of Betsy Nagelsen and Dinky Van Rensburg beat Jo Durie and Sharon Walsh-Pete, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, to move into today’s doubles final. They will meet fourth-seeded Patty Fendick and Jill Hetherington, who beat Rosalyn Fairbank and Gretchen Magers, 7-5, 7-5.